The present invention relates generally to electronic circuit characterization and simulation techniques. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for directly computing waveforms that describe driven autonomous circuits, e.g., a circuit having an oscillator and one or more periodic input signals.
As circuit size and complexity increase, circuit simulation tools are becoming indispensible. In electronic circuit design, a circuit is usually represented by a system of equations, with various circuit components represented by their mathematical models. The models and equations are continuously being developed and refined to meet the requirements of new device and circuit technologies and increasingly more demanding applications.
As an example, the design of oscillators has received much attention, because they are critical components in electronic systems, including communication systems, signal processing systems, and timing and clock systems in digital circuits. Accurate steady state simulation and phase noise prediction for oscillators are important functionalities of simulation and verification tools. While some advances have been made in the analysis and simulation of oscillator circuits, many challenges remain. For example, conventional circuit analysis and simulation techniques are inadequate in handling a driven oscillator circuit having periodic input signals in addition to the oscillator itself. Some of these limitations are described in more detail in a later section below.
Therefore, there is a need for improved circuit analysis simulation techniques for driven oscillator systems.